Don't Leave
by 0ABC1
Summary: Imagine if Shane successfully convinced Rick not to return to Atlanta. How would this change of event affect Daryl Dixon? Read and find out. Eventual Bethyl.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing

* * *

"He's right," acknowledged Rick after taking Shane's words into account. "We have to stay and protect this camp in case those things decide to show up around here."

Mostly everyone in the camp heard his decision and slowly nodded in agreement as they felt this was the best choice to make.

Daryl on the other hand was absolutely livid with this decision. A few minutes ago Rick had assured him that he would personally take him to the building where Merle was; now, after a little persuasion from Shane he completely backed down. "So that's it huh?" he began as he walked right up to Rick's face. "Yer just going to forget the fact that you handcuffed ma brother to a fuckin roof?"

Rick stood by his decision, "listen I know it wasn't the best decision, but your brother didn't exactly give us a choice. Believe me, it was either him or all of us."

"Man I don't give a shit bout what ya say. Just tell me where ma brother is and I'll get'im ma damn self."

"Now hold on a minute," began Dale "you can't go back for him alone, its way too risky."

Hearing those words caused Daryl to snap, "Are ya stupid ol' man? No damn way in Hell m'goin to leave my brother stranded on a roof so dem geeks can make a free meal out of him."

Realizing there's no way in talking him out of it, Rick decided to just let him go. He provided Daryl with the location of the building and Glenn told him how he could get to him.

Now knowing that the door was chained Daryl knew he needed something to help him get in. "M'taking the bolt cutters" he stated as he headed towards Dale's toolbox.

Dale immediately got in between him and his toolbox, "whoa, I didn't give you permission to take my bolt cutters."

"Well it's a good thing I didn't ask ya, now move." Responded Daryl.

Dale stood his ground, "you ain't taking my bolt cutters."

"You going to stop me?"

Before Dale could respond, Rick decided to intervene "let's just calm down for a minute," he turned towards Dale, "he really needs it, it's the only way to get to the roof."

"I never liked lending tools" responded Dale, "last time I did, never got them back"

"What would it take to let him use it?" asked Rick determined to at least help Daryl in some way.

Dale thought for a moment, "how about the radiation hose on your van? The one on the RV is ruined and the one in your van seems like a perfect match.

Rick thought about his proposal for a second "I'll tell you what" he began, "you let him use the bolt cutters and you can strip that van to the very metal."

Hearing his response, Dale allowed Daryl to pass and get the tool he wanted.

Daryl grunted, "Didn't need your help, would've gotten it either way."

"Just wanted to help out in some way" responded Rick.

Daryl just ignored him, he looked towards the group who just stood there and watched. "D'hell with all of y'all" and with that said he got on his chopper and headed towards the city alone.

* * *

Daryl parked his chopper on the edge of the city. To avoid any unnecessary attention he decided to go on foot for the rest of the way. Fortunately, he didn't have any problem sneaking into the building, it was inside when he saw the first geek. He aimed his crossbow in between its eyes and immediately pulled the trigger effectively killing it. He found the stairs and proceeded to run towards the roof. He had no trouble getting into the chained door that lead to it. He grabbed the bolt cutters and ripped out the lock that held the chain together. He quickly opened the door and headed towards where his brother should be. "Merle!" he shouted as he reached his destination. Seeing the scene that was right in front of him made him feel sick to his stomach, "No!" he shouted. If the bloody saw wasn't evidence enough, then the hand that was on the ground clearly indicated that his brother sawed off his hand in order to get out of the handcuffs. "No!" he found himself screaming again. He had no idea where his brother was at, or if he was even alive at this point. He went back down the stairs shouting his brother's name hoping that Merle would respond. He continued searching for Merle in every floor, but only found traces and clues that indicated that his brother was still alive. After accepting that his brother wasn't even in the building anymore Daryl dropped to his knees as tears began to run down his cheeks. Merle may have been an asshole but he was all he had left. Now… he was completely alone.

Suddenly Daryl remembered the camp, and every single person that was in it. He remembered Shane, Glenn, Andrea, T-Dog, and Rick. Daryl's blood began to boil when he thought of the last two names. They were the most responsible for Merle being handcuffed in the first place. _'Something had to be done'_ he thought to himself. No way in Hell was he going to let this slide. He remembered why he and his brother were in the group to begin with. After a few minutes of thinking, he decided that it was about time he went through with it.

* * *

Daryl entered the camp where it had now been night time. Everyone except Jim who was keeping watch on top of the RV was asleep. Upon seeing Daryl, Jim got down to greet him, "good to have you back" he said.

Daryl looked around the camp, "good t'be back" he responded. Jim was about to head back up the RV before he was stopped by Daryl. "Think ya could help me carry a deer I jus killed for d'group?"

"I'm keeping watch right now. Can't you bring it yourself?"

Daryl shook his head "naw, m'exhausted from the trip."

"We can wake Shane or T-Do-"

"C'mon it's close by, no need to wake anyone up."

Jim took a moment to think about it "alright let's go" he finally responded as he headed to where Daryl came from.

"Ppreciate it" responded Daryl as he followed.

They walked for a few minutes away from the camp before Jim decided to break the silence. "Shane was right" he began, "group of geeks came and attacked us earlier."

"Is that so?" asked Daryl.

"Yea but with Rick and the others haven stayed behind, we were able to fend them off. Unfortunately, Ed and Amy didn't make it."

Daryl was a bit surprised to hear that; he didn't really know them but a death is a death, "such a shame" he commented.

"Hopefully we don't lose anybody else."

"Mhm" responded Daryl. He waited for the right moment and when it came he covered Jim's mouth and before he could react Daryl grabbed his knife and slit his throat. "Just you" he said to the now lifeless body.

With everyone else asleep Daryl grabbed a bag and went around the camp collecting canned food, guns, ammunition, and anything else that he felt like taking. After a few minutes, he gathered everything he needed. No doubt he was severely crippling the group, but he honestly didn't care what happened to them at this point. Before he left, he brought out the bolt cutters and drove it to the ground. He wanted to make sure that everyone knew he was responsible when they woke up.

As he was leaving the camp, he heard the sound of something approaching. He went to check it out and saw that it was Jim that had reanimated into one of them. He took out his knife and hid behind a tree ready to kill it if it came too close. Daryl realized that it was heading towards the camp where everyone was still asleep. He was seconds away from killing it when he had the chance, but the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to let it walk into the camp and wake everyone up with a fright. Daryl smirked, no way weren't his actions going to be felt by the end of the day. He picked up his bag full of everything he grabbed from the camp and headed towards where he had his chopper waiting for him.

As he was about to ride away, he heard the blood-curdling screams that sounded like they came from the camp ground. With a smile, Daryl drove off far away from there.


	2. Chapter 2

Don't Leave

The sun was beginning to settle signaling that night time was approaching. Daryl setup a small campfire to cook two skinless squirrels that he had hunted earlier for food. He proceeded to surround his camp with traps that would be able to alert him in case any walkers came too close. He also found a small town that was located ten minutes away from where he was now. He decided he would visit the place first thing tomorrow to look for supplies of any kind.

It had been roughly two months since he decided to go solo. All of the food supplies that he stole from the previous group had run out a little less than a month ago.

The night was silent, and only the fire could be heard from a distance. It was nights like these that made Daryl feel extremely lonely. Since leaving the group, he had yet to encounter any other living person. Like most days he decided to put his emotions to the back of his mind and proceeded to eat the cooked squirrel meat. Upon finishing, he took out a blanket that he was able to pick up from a nearby car a few days ago and covered himself in it. He decided to go to sleep earlier than usual since tomorrow was going to be a big day and he needed all the rest he could get in order to stay alert incase everything went south. He did his best to get comfortable enough before he closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.

Morning had arrived, Daryl slowly woke up from his slumber. When fully awake, he began preparing for his trip to the small town of Senoia. He loaded up his weapons and headed towards his destination.

* * *

The streets were silent upon arriving to the town. Daryl made a mental list of supplies he needed which included: canned food, ammunition, and maybe even a silencer. He found it very odd that it was really quiet as he approached the first building. He took precaution upon entering just in case there was walkers inside. Even though the building was clear, it was also obvious that it had already been raided before. Knowing that there was no point in looking around, Daryl decided to head out and continue searching other buildings.

He had finished searching the fourth building that brought the same results as the previous ones; but as he was leaving it, he heard the sound of a vehicle approaching. Not taking any chances, he ran under a nearby car to avoid detection. The car came to a stop a few feet from where he was hidden. Daryl could hear two doors opening and the sound of footsteps closing in on him. The closer they came, the better Daryl could hear what they were saying.

"He should be around here somewhere" said one of the men.

"How can we be so sure he's still here?" questioned the other.

"They saw him ride here around twenty minutes ago. I doubt he'd be gone by now."

Daryl cursed silently, he knew that the goons were referring to him and he didn't know what they wanted. He continued to stay still in his hiding spot hoping that they would leave soon and he could get to his chopper and leave.

"He's not here, let's go"

"Wait," responded the other goon "what's that?" he asked pointing up ahead.

"Shit" murmured Daryl as he knew they just spotted his chopper. He could still see them but they were too far away for him to be able to make out what they were saying. Rage was beginning to build up as he saw the duo checking out his bike. As soon as he saw that one of the goons got on it, he immediately crawled out from underneath the car and aimed his crossbow at them. "Get d'Hell away from ma bike!" he demanded.

The two men quickly drew out their guns in response.

"I ain't looking for no trouble" said Daryl.

The two men began to laugh, "Says the redneck whose pointing an arrow at us" responded one of them.

"Just step away from ma bike and there won't be any trouble."

"About that" began the goon as he got off Daryl's bike, "you see you're in our territory now… and we despise intruders."

Knowing where this was going, Daryl decided to hit first. He shot a bolt point blank in between the eyes.

"Son of a bitch!" yelled the other guy as he fired his gun aiming toward the archer's heart.

Daryl was able to move, but unfortunately the bullet penetrated him in his left shoulder. He mustered enough strength to swing his crossbow and connect with his attacker's jaw successfully knocking him down.

The man quickly got up but to his surprise he realized that a gun was being pointed towards his forehead. He slowly raised his hands in defeat.

"Who found trouble now?" mocked Daryl.

"Listen" began the man, "We can help you. We have men back at our ca-"before he could continue, a bullet went straight through his forehead killing him instantly.

Even though he was in excruciating pain, Daryl knew he had to get out of this town as soon as possible. The goon mentioned more men and there was no chance he was going to wait around for them to come. He got on his chopper and headed towards the woods where he would be sheltered by the foliage.

Knowing that he couldn't take his bike through the woods, he hid the chopper and covered it up with anything he could find so it would be difficult to spot for anyone else. Daryl needed to find a way to remove the bullet from his shoulder. He was beginning to lose a good amount of blood so he at least needed something right now to cover it up to stop the bleeding. He ripped out a strip of cloth from his shirt and firmly tied it around his wound. He continued to walk deeper into the woods hoping to find a safe spot to rest. His heart began to race when he realized that everything around him was beginning to spin. He quickly needed to find some place safe, anywhere. He took some deep breaths and continued walking deeper into the woods. He used the trees to be able to keep himself up, but within a few minutes Daryl lost his balance and fell to the ground. He tried his best to stay awake but soon he passed out.

It began raining in Senoia. Daryl slowly started regaining consciousness. He took in his surroundings and remembered why he was there in the first place. He tried to get up but quickly felt an immense pain in his left shoulder, "fuck" he said to himself. He took a glance at his wound and noticed that it was beginning to swell. He needed to do something about it as soon as possible or it would end very ugly for him. It took most of his strength but he was able to finally get up and continue walking. He figured first he needed to find something to eat since he was hungry and figuring out a way to treat his wound would be useless if he starved himself to death. A few moments later he spotted a rabbit. He loaded his crossbow, aimed, and shot the bolt towards it. He sighed annoyingly once he realized that he had completely missed. He went to retreat his bolt and check to see if it was damaged in any way. He was about to continue walking until he suddenly heard the sound of a gunshot nearby. Daryl hesitated to follow the sound but considering how weak he felt at the moment; and unsafe it is to be in the woods alone with a possible infection, he didn't really have much of a choice.

He arrived at the area where he was sure that he heard the gun shot, and to his satisfaction, there was a blood trail. He began following the trail with his crossbow loaded and ready for whatever lied ahead. All of the walking was taking a huge toll on him as he began to feel weaker and light headed again. After minutes of following the trail, he realized that it was leading out of the woods and into an open field. What came next nearly left him speechless. On one side he saw cows roaming freely inside a wooden fence. On the other he could see what looks like a chicken coop. A smile slowly began to form as he knew the farm had been untouched by the dead. From a distance he noticed a women quickly making her way towards some stables. Daryl knew if he was going to do something, now was a good opportunity. He quickly made his way towards the stables, doing his best to stay hidden so no one could spot him. In order to survive this situation, Daryl knew what had to be done.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Wow, I'm so glad you guys accepted and are interested in my story. Thank you so much, and your reviews are greatly appreciated. I have so many ideas for this story and I truly hope you'll continue to give it a chance.

Chapter 3

"Beloved father, we thank you for this wonderful meal that you have provided us tonight. We pray that you continue to bless us and keep us ever mindful of the needs of others. In Jesus' name,"

"Amen."

It was breakfast time at the Greene Farm. Hershel, Patricia, Maggie, Beth, and Jimmy recited their prayer and began eating.

Hershel picked up the basket of biscuits and put two on his plate. "Hopefully the rain will calm down soon so we can begin our chores around the farm."

"And here I was hoping to get the day off" quietly murmured Maggie thinking that her father wouldn't be able to hear her. She instantly giggled when she noticed her father was giving her a serious look.

"We all got jobs to do Maggie, and yours is to gather all the eggs in the chicken coop."

Maggie rolled her eyes and continued to eat.

Hershel noticed that his youngest daughter had barely taken a bite out of her food. "Is something wrong Bethy?"

"I'm fine, I was just thinking about my birthday next week."

"What about it?" asked Maggie.

"It's going to be my first birthday without mamma and Shawn."

Everyone at the breakfast table frowned upon hearing this.

Realizing that she brought the mood down, Beth immediately flashed a weak smile at them. "It's ok, maybe they'll find a cure and we'll have them back… that's all I could ask for."

Around twenty minutes later, everyone noticed that the rain was beginning to calm down. Patricia picked up her finished plate and took it to the sink, "I should go feed the horses before the rain picks up again."

Hershel nodded as she left and headed towards the stables.

Maggie was the next to take her plate to the sink, "now that the rain is calming down, I was thinking about heading to town and picking up a few supplies, if that's ok."

"Alright, but be careful out there" responded Hershel as he gave his plate to Maggie.

"Can I go too?" quickly asked Beth.

Hershel sighed, "Sweetie we talked about this. It's too dangerous for you to be out there."

"But you have no problem with Maggie being out there" retaliated Beth.

"Maggie can take care of herself. I will fee-"

"I can take care of myself too. I'm not a little girl anymore, I-"

"Enough" said Hershel silencing his youngest daughter. "Like I said, it's too dangerous for you to be out there and I will feel much better knowing that you're here where it's safe."

Frustrated, Beth stood up and marched towards her room. Before leaving she turned around towards Maggie, "My asthma inhaler is almost empty, if you could bring me another one that be great." She didn't wait for her sister's response before she headed up to her room.

"I'll go talk to her" mentioned Jimmy as he picked up his and Beth's plate, took them to the sink, and headed towards Beth's room.

Maggie felt a lump in her throat, Daddy, are you ok? I'm sure she didn't mean to upset you"

Hershel waved her off, "I know how your sister can get. She'll come around."

As Hershel and Maggie began cleaning up the table they heard a loud scream coming from the stables. "Bring me my shotgun" ordered Hershel as he immediately ran towards the door. "Patricia?!" He yelled hoping to get a response, and to his fear he did.

Patricia walked out of the barn with Daryl right behind her holding a gun to her head.

"What is the meaning of this?" asked Hershel completely horrified of what he was witnessing.

Before Daryl could respond, He saw a women holding a shotgun come out of the house followed by a boy and a girl.

"Dear God" said Maggie once she saw what was happening. Beth and Jimmy were to shock to even say a word.

"Nice family ya got there" commented Daryl.

"Please, don't hurt her" pleaded Hershel.

"Don't worry ol' man, jus give me what I want, and no one gets hurt"

Maggie stepped in front of her father, "What do you want from us?"

"Food and something t'pull this bullet out of ma shoulder" he responded while revealing his bullet wound.

Hershel noticed the shakiness in their trespasser's posture, "you look like you're running a fever, your wound has probably already been infected."

"What are ya a doctor or something?"

"I'm a vet"

Daryl smirked when hearing that, "well I guess that's better then nothing, ya think ya can help me?"

"I will, just please let Patricia go" responded Hershel.

"Daddy no" pleaded Maggie. She hated the idea of her father helping a stranger who has no problem in threatening someone in order to get what he wants.

"Maggie, take your sister and Jimmy inside. I'll handle this."

Anger was beginning to boil up inside the oldest daughter, "maybe I should shoot you right now" she hissed pointing the shotgun towards Daryl. "Let her go."

Daryl didn't budge, "or what? You'll shoot?"

"Don't think I won't"

"It don't matter. If ya fire, odds are you'll hit her too" he responded rolling his eyes to signal Patricia.

"He's right Maggie" responded Hershel, "just do as I say and take the kids inside."

Not once did Maggie stop giving Daryl a deadly stare as she did what her father asked her to do.

Upon the three leaving, Hershel turned his attention back to Daryl, "now let her go and let me take a look at you."

"How do I know you'll keep your word?" questioned Daryl.

"I will, your fever is only going to get worst if not treated immediately."

Daryl still remained unconvinced. He debated whether to trust him or not, but knowing that he didn't have much of a choice, he slowly lowered his gun.

Realizing the gun wasn't being aimed at her anymore, Patricia quickly ran towards Hershel and wrapped her arms around him.

"Patricia go inside and tell Maggie to bring me my first aid kit." As soon as he gave that order, Hershel noticed the glare that Daryl was giving him. "And tell her to leave the shotgun inside" he added thinking that it was the reason the archer gave him that look, and to his relief it was. "Sit down son, let me take a look at your wound."

Daryl was skeptical at first, but he allowed Hershel to look at it to see what was wrong.

"I'm gonna have to remove the bullet. The good news is that it doesn't look too bad, you should be healed within a day or two.

Daryl grunted, he didn't like the idea of having to wait two days at most to be completely healed.

Maggie appeared from inside the house shortly. She quickly turned towards Daryl with a look of hatred for what he did, "here you go" she said handing her father what he asked for.

"Thank you, now go back inside" simply responded Hershel to which her daughter obliged. He put on a pair of sterile gloves and proceeded to pick up the tools necessary to remove the bullet. "I should probably get you something for the pain"

"Just remove it" responded Daryl.

"Are you sure?" asked Hershel. Upon receiving no answer, He picked up the first tool he needed and began the process of removing the bullet.

* * *

Night had come at the Greene farm and everyone was inside preparing for bed. Daryl was on the porch checking his bolts since he had nothing better to do. Hershel had told him not to move too much to allow the wound to heal. Honestly, he wanted to leave as soon as possible to avoid any other problem with this family. The fever was beginning to calm down and he felt like he could continue his way.

The door opened revealing the blonde girl from earlier. She had a blanket in her hand which she tossed to Daryl, "there you go."

"What's this for" responded the archer.

"To cover yourself" replied Beth sarcastically. Daryl gave her a glare that sent a chill down her spine. "There it is, use it if you want to" with that said, she headed back inside leaving Daryl alone.

Daryl became annoyed, _'guess I'm not going anywhere'_ he thought. He grabbed the blanket and walked towards a nearby tree to lay down. For once Daryl didn't even bother to set traps or anything like that, he felt safe as it is for now.

* * *

Morning had arrived. Maggie walked out of the house, she needed to check around and make sure everything was normal. Her eyes landed on Daryl who was still asleep next to the tree. She wanted nothing more than to grab her father's shotgun and shoot him for disturbing her family's peace, but she promised her father that she would stay away from him. She continued to check the property for any abnormalities. Once finished, she headed towards the well to fill up a bucket of water. As she was filling it up, she looked towards the man that remained asleep, a smile creeped up on her lips as she had an idea. She filled up the bucket and walked towards him, whistling along the way. Upon reaching him, she grabbed the bucket and without hesitation she dumped the entire load of water on him waking him instantly.

"WHAT T'HELL?!" he shouted completely drenched.

"Good you're awake" she responded, "maybe now you can get the hell out of here."

Before Daryl could respond, they both saw Hershel approaching them. "I told you to keep away from him."

Maggie just smiled innocently, "I just wanted to make sure our guest was clean daddy… he looked very dirty."

"You know I'm getting sick of your shit lady" responded Daryl

Suddenly they saw the youngest Greene run up to them, "Daddy they're back" she shouted while pointing in the direction of the woods.

The three of them turned towards the direction she was pointing to and Daryl saw that two males were dragging a little girl towards them. "What are they doin?" he asked. He squinted his eyes and realized that it was a walker. "Fuck" he said as he drew out his gun.

"What are you doing?" panicked Maggie upon seeing the gun out.

"Why you bringing that thing over here?" asked Daryl ignoring her question.

"She's a little sick girl" answered Beth.

"Sick girl?" asked Daryl in confusion, "ya mean walker?"

"I mean sick girl" responded Beth slightly annoyed.

"Girl, that thing ain't sick, it's dead"

"Excuse me?" Beth responded completely offended now, "She's sick, just like mama and Shawn are"

"Are?" asked Daryl. He turned towards Otis, Jimmy, and the 'girl' who were getting closer to them. For some reason the walker felt familiar. He took a better look at her and smirked, "Well this is gonna get interesting."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey everyone! I would like to apologize for taking a while to update this story, but a lot has been going on lately. For one, I had completed this chapter twice and both times I had to start all over for different reasons. I was normally going to go ahead and post a rather long chapter to conclude this ark since I didn't really feel that Daryl would've stayed longer than he had to, but I decided to scrap it in the end because it felt pretty rushed.**

 **I would also like to give a special shout out to "Dethwatch" for reviewing my story twice and to everyone else who took time to post a review, it means so much to me and I greatly appreciate it. Now on with the story.**

Chapter 4

 _"She's sick, just like mama and Shawn are."_

Those words kept ringing inside Daryl's head as he continued to watch Otis and Jimmy drag the walker closer to the farm.

" _Sick."_

'So that's how these people see those things.' He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't hear Beth talking to him.

"Didn't you hear her? She asked you to put the gun away" said Maggie rather harshly.

Daryl had forgotten that he had a gun in his hand, "What are ya'll gonna do with her?" he asked as he placed it back in its holster.

"That is none of your business" responded Maggie earning herself a glare from the hunter.

Hershel could sense the tension between his daughter and Daryl, "Maggie, I want you and Beth to go continue your chores. I would like to speak to Daryl alone."

Maggie hated having to leave her father alone with this man. She wanted to protest but knew that it would've been futile. She eventually just nodded and alongside her sister they headed back to continue their chores.

Once the two girls were out of sight, Daryl immediately turned towards Hershel. "So am I good to go or what?"

"It's only been a day" responded Hershel, "your body needs at least one more day to heal."

Daryl couldn't deny that his body still felt weak from the infection, but he also couldn't deny how much he wanted to leave this farm already. "Fine" he eventually responded. He was about to head off before Hershel stopped him.

"Since you're going to stay one more night at my farm. I would like to ask you if you could keep your distance from my family."

Daryl was slightly amused from his request, "if ya haven't noticed, its yer daughters who haven't 'kept their distance' from me."

"I will talk to both Maggie and Beth, just please stay away from them."

Daryl picked up his crossbow from the ground, "whatever, m'goin huntin" he said as he turned around and began walking away before Hershel could stop him again.

* * *

Beth had started her chores by feeding the animals on the farm. She was feeding the cows the moment she heard her father calling her. She turned to him and smiled, "what's up?"

"I came to see how you were doing?" responded Hershel, "yesterday you mentioned your inhaler was nearly empty. With what's been happening lately, Maggie hadn't been able to head into town like she wanted."

Beth dumped the last of food in the cow's feeding trough, "Its ok. The one I have should last me a couple more days."

"That's good honey. Hopefully later today Maggie will bring you-"

"Hershel" came a voice.

Hershel and Beth turned to see Otis approaching them.

"I came to let you know that the little girl is in the barn."

"Did you have any trouble?"

He shook his head, "Naw, Jimmy and I were able to safely put her in, but I'm going back to the woods to check if there's anyone else around."

"Can I go?" asked Beth without hesitation.

Hershel gave her a serious look.

"Daddy I'm tired of being stuck in this farm all day. I haven't gone out once since the outbreak."

"I know honey, but-"

"Let her come" interrupted Otis, "I'll keep an eye on her, make sure she doesn't get into any kind of trouble."

Hershel turned to Otis and then to her daughter who was giving her a pleading look. He laughed, "Alright go ahead, just be careful and do exactly as Otis says."

Beth nearly jumped in excitement, "thank you" she gave him a hug and ran to put the wagon in its place.

Otis couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction to leaving the farm even if it was just for around an hour. "She'll be fine" he mentioned.

Hershel smiled and headed back to the house.

* * *

"Do you think anyone else is out here?" asked Beth as she alongside Otis were walking through the woods.

"Not sure. I thought we locked up the last one of them a few days ago, but today the girl showed up so who knows" responded Otis.

Beth looked at him with curious eyes, "so you think more are coming?"

"It looks that way" he turned towards her, "If that's the case, you need to be careful around here. Remember what happened to your brother when he had contact with one of them."

Beth nodded, she knew what the risk of being out here was but was still happy to be out of the farm.

Otis began scanning the woods until his eyes landed on Daryl a few feet away getting ready to fire his crossbow. Hershel had told him what he did to get what he wanted and it was about time he met this intruder. He turned to Beth who hadn't noticed the archer yet, "why don't you go take a look over there," he said pointing at a different direction.

"Ok" replied Beth as she started walking towards that direction.

After she was gone, Otis made his way towards the hunter.

Daryl pulled the trigger on his crossbow firing a bolt that instantly killed a squirrel while it was climbing a tree. He went to pick up the dead animal and proceeded to string it like the rest of the squirrels he killed today. All day he couldn't help but think of the current predicament he was in. If that walker really was the girl from Atlanta then the rest of the group could be close by. On the other hand, he needed to return to Senoia to retrieve his bike. In doing so, he'll put himself at risk of encountering the goons and next time it could be more than just two of them. He was quickly snapped away from his thoughts when he heard someone approaching him. He turned back and saw that it was Otis who was walking towards him. "Ya followin me or somethin?" he asked not really caring if he got an answer.

"I came looking for any other people that could have been with the girl" responded Otis.

Daryl was about to walk away to continue hunting when he was stopped.

"Hershel told me what you did. How you put a gun at my wife's head."

"Damn nearly pulled the trigger too" he responded.

Otis was taken back by his response but wasn't about to back off, "just who do you think you are?" he asked.

When hearing his question, Daryl turned to face him, "who do ya think I am?"

Otis took a step towards him, "from what I can see, you're just a selfish man who thinks he can do whatever he wants without ever facing any consequences."

Daryl smirked at his response, "consequences huh? Don't tell me yer planning on using that gun on me?" he asked pointing to the rifle Otis had in his hand.

Otis stayed silent, he knew he wasn't going to do anything but he couldn't deny that he was slightly tempted to.

"By the time you even lift that gun, a bolt would have already went through yer head" added Daryl confidently.

Before anything else could be said, they both heard someone calling out Otis's name. They both turned to Beth who was running towards them.

"I saw one" she started, "that way, passed those trees."

Otis could tell that she was slightly shaken, "what's wrong. Did it hurt you?" he asked with a worried look.

"No, but I know him" she replied.

Forgetting about Daryl, Otis ran to where she had pointed to. Shortly after, he saw a walker with a broken ankle roaming the woods without a sense of direction. It noticed him and immediately started walking towards him.

Otis turned to Beth who had followed him, "I don't have what I need, but since it can barely walk I'm going to lead it towards the farm. Once we're close enough I need you to get Jimmy, he'll know what to do."

Beth nodded as Otis handed her his rifle.

Otis walked in front of the walker and once it got its full attention, he started walking backwards towards the farm and making sure it was following him.

It wasn't long before they were both joined By Daryl who was curious to know what they were doing. "What's going on here?" he asked Beth as he stopped next to her.

"We're taking him to the farm. He'll be safe there" she responded not taking her eyes off Otis and the walker.

"Oh" began Daryl, "Said ya knew him?"

Beth turned towards him and saw that he was loading his crossbow. She paid no attention to it since she figured he was just going to continue hunting. "His name is Tommy. He lived a few miles from the farm."

"Friend of yours?"

"Maggie's ex-boyfriend. They dated for two years before the outbreak. He was always so kind to me. I wanted Maggie to marry him" she said the final part with a giggle.

"Is that so?"

Remembering her father's order, Beth became serious, "I shouldn't be talking to you."

Daryl rolled his eyes at her response. He looked at the walker who was being lead to the farm, "It's dead" he stated.

Hearing this, Beth immediately turned towards him again, but his time with a look of frustration, "he's sick. Just because you think something doesn't mean it's true."

He remained silent for a moment, "fair enough" he finally said and before Beth and Otis knew it, a bolt had pierced through the side of the walker's head killing it.

They both turned to the man responsible, too shock to even say anything about what just happened.

"I say it cause I know it's true" he commented as he walked away from them both.

* * *

"He did what?!" asked Maggie in disbelief after Beth explained to everyone what happened in the woods.

"He killed him" responded Beth, "he shot him in the head with an arrow without any remorse."

This was the boiling point for Maggie. She had enough of this intruder coming to her father's land and doing whatever he pleased. She could ignore the glares and comments he made, but outright killing someone in cold-blood? Especially someone she was close to is unacceptable. "That son of a bitch is going to hear me this time" She was about to march outside, but was quickly stopped by Hershel who grabbed her arm.

"Maggie don't."

Hearing him caused Maggie to snap, "don't what?! Didn't you hear her? That murderer just killed Tommy and you don't want me confront him?"

"That's not what I was going to say" he responded, "let me talk to him."

"Daddy, I want him out of here!"

"We all do" said Patricia now entering the conversation.

"Like I said, I'll go talk to him" replied Hershel. He was so caught up with this problem that he had failed to realize that Otis didn't return with Beth, "Where's Otis?"

"He wanted to stay in the woods and maybe find a deer" responded Beth.

Satisfied with the answer, he began walking towards the door, "I want all of you to stay inside" he ordered as he went outside.

Daryl was creating a couple of bolts while the squirrels he hunted earlier were over the fire cooking. He could see Hershel walking towards him. By the serious look on his face, he had a feeling that he was going to question him about the walker.

Upon reaching him, Hershel went straight to the point, "Beth told me what you did."

"Yea? Yer welcome by the way" responded Daryl without looking up from his task.

"We seem to have a different perception on the way we look at these people."

Daryl placed a finish bolt to the side where the rest of them were.

"Now I asked you kindly to stay away from my daughters, and not only did you not do what I asked but you killed someone in front of my youngest daughter." Continued Hershel. "I have been very generous with you despite the fact that you threatened to kill Patricia. I'm not going to ask you to leave today because of your injury, but by tomorrow morning I want you off my property and as far away from my family as possible."

"Don't need to worry about that" responded Daryl unfazed by what Hershel just said.

Accepting his response, Hershel left to return to the house leaving Daryl to continue creating his hand-made bolts.

Approximately an hour later, Daryl heard a gunshot sound from the woods. He didn't pay any attention to it as he was sure Otis was just hunting, but a few minutes later he noticed someone was running across the fields with a child in arms. After a few seconds he realized that it was the sheriff from Atlanta carrying his boy. 'They're here' he thought.

 **I would like to go ahead and apologize to anybody who was expecting Daryl to come face-to-face with the group from Atlanta in this chapter, but I wanted there to be some aftermath from what happened in the last chapter before I reintroduced them. Also I had a question that I wanted to ask all of you. I know that not everyone is a big fan of filler arks, and after the farm, there is approximately a nine month gap before TF arrives at the prison. I wanted to know if everyone would prefer a filler ark or just have a time skip to the prison since that's where Daryl will meet the group again after the farm.**


	5. Chapter 5

**_A/N: Hey everyone! I'm sincerely sorry for keeping all of you waiting for the fifth chapter, but I had major setbacks. Now that I finished my classes for this semester I should have more time to focus on this story. Anyways I would like to thank 'Emerald1921 and Tales of Asalea' for their suggestions; I completely agree with the both of you. So I decided to go ahead and finish up this arc for several reasons; and because of this, this chapter is going to be the longest I've ever written. I hope you enjoy._**

* * *

Don't Leave Chapter 5

Rick was sitting on the living room couch while his wife was walking back and forth in front of him. They were both anxiously waiting for either Hershel or Patricia to walk out of the room and give them news about their son. As Rick waited, images of his only child getting shot at kept replaying in his head over and over. He would've done anything to switch places with him right now.

Lori realized her husband was hurting himself mentally, so she took a seat next to him. "Are you ok?"

Rick tried to respond, but for the life of him, he could not form a single word at the moment. The emotions he was feeling were too much.

Lori took his silence as an answer and gently placed her hand on his shoulder to try and comfort him. "It's not your fault. Carl is in there because of that idiot that shot him."

After another moment of silence, Rick was finally able to find the words to respond, "You haven't seen him Lori… If you did, you would know how bad it is."

He was right, Lori had yet to see Carl, therefore she didn't know how bad he looked now. She could only hope for the best. She placed a small kiss on his lips and gave him a reassuring nod.

Rick felt somewhat better after her gesture. He returned the kiss and slightly smiled, "I love you." In that moment, the door to the room that Carl was in opened and out came Hershel. Rick and Lori immediately stood up and practically ran to where the veterinarian stood. "How is he?" asked the sheriff.

Hershel sighed, "He's doing a little better but I'm not going to lie to you, if Shane and Otis don't return with the supplies soon, the boy might not make it."

Lori could immediately feel her heart sinking as she quietly muttered "Oh my god…"

Rick tried to stay hopeful. He wanted to believe in his best friend but it was getting more difficult as every minute passed. "I need some air…" He walked outside the house and towards the porch where he rested his arms on the porch rail and just kept thinking about his son. Seconds later, he heard his wife behind him

"…Maybe it's for the best."

Rick turned around in confusion, "What?" he asked.

"Think about it… Carl is only a child. He's not meant to live in a world like this. If… he was to die like this, then it would be over for him. He would never have to be afraid again."

The former sheriff couldn't believe what his wife was saying, "How could you think that?"

Lori could feel tears forming in her eyes, "Don't you see Rick? If our son survives this today then who's to say tomorrow he won't get attacked and killed by one of them?" Rick was about to respond but was interrupted. "The thought of my son being gutted by one of those… those… oh god." Lori couldn't even stand the thought of Carl being killed by a walker.

"Don't you ever say that you hear me?" stated Rick as he grabbed her by the shoulders. "Our son will not end up like the people in Atlanta. He's a smart kid and is more than capable of surviving in this new world."

Lori wanted to believe her husband, but after hearing Hershel's words, her confidence lowered drastically. "But what if- "

"Enough" interrupted Rick, "promise me you'll never think that way again" he demanded.

"Rick I can't promi- "

"Promise me" he interrupted again.

After a few moments, she conceded "I promise"

Rick kissed her on the forehead and proceeded to embrace her. "I promise you that after today, I won't allow you or Carl to get hurt."

Lori smiled as she heard her husband's promise. She wanted to thank him, but then the both of them heard the voice of the last person they thought they would ever see again.

"Well wasn't that touching."

The couple turned to where the voice came from and were shocked to see Daryl standing next to the porch.

Daryl smirked as he saw both of their reactions, "Heard yer boy took a bullet."

Rick's anxiety quickly turned to anger, "You son of a bitch!" he yelled as he immediately lunged to try and land a blow to the hunter's jaw, but was immediately stopped when Daryl took out his gun and aimed it at his forehead.

"Easy there cowboy" he mocked. "Thought that you would've been a little happier to see me."

"What the hell are you doing here?" asked Lori who was frightened to see her husband at the mercy of a man who caused them plenty of harm in Atlanta.

Daryl looked at her, then back at Rick, "Not really much of yer business now is it?"

At that moment, Hershel and his family came out of the house. "What's going on here?" He saw that Daryl was holding a gun to the sheriff's forehead, "Daryl put the gun away, I thought I made it clear that I will not tolerate any more violence."

Daryl ignored his demands and remained focused on Rick who didn't move, "So how did y'all get here?" he asked curiously.

"Not really much of your business" answered Rick.

Daryl rolled his eyes, "What happened to them other people?"

"A lot has happened since the night you betrayed us." Rick grew angrier as he remembered exactly what happened, "Because of you, Jim and Dale are gone and most of the group went their separate ways because of the shortage of supplies. Supplies that you stole."

Daryl thought about his response for a moment, "So Dale was the unfortunate soul to encounter the reanimated Jim?"

Meanwhile, the Greene's were stunned as they kept hearing the conversation that was taking place. They all knew that Daryl was a killer, but hearing that he caused the death of at least two other people admittedly scared them. Hershel especially was concerned. He refused to believe it at first, but now it was obvious that he had been taking care of a killer.

"I did what I did after you and yer group left ma brother stranded on top of a roof handcuffed to a pipe" added the archer.

"I did what I could. If you stayed, you would've known that Shane was right and a group of walkers attacked us later that night."

"I already know" responded Daryl. "Jim told me all about it before I slit his throat."

Hearing Daryl confirm what he knew only made Rick's blood boil even more. "Why don't you lower your gun and we can settle this like men."

"Enough!" stated Hershel. "I will not have any of you cause a scene on my land."

Daryl also had enough. "Fuck this. I don't need any of y'all" he said turning to Hershel. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. T'hell with this place, I'm leaving." He lowered his gun and turned to walk away which proved to be a huge mistake as Rick took advantage and began swinging blows to the hunter causing them both to fall to the ground.

"Rick!" yelled Lori as she watched her husband land blows on Daryl.

Daryl was completely caught off guard when he was attacked. He took the first few punches, but when he saw an opportunity he immediately switched positions and was now delivering his punches to Rick. He was going to continue to attack him, but he suddenly felt a pain in the back of his head which knocked him out.

Rick looked up to see his wife holding the tracker's gun in her hand. No doubt she used it to knock Daryl out.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

Rick stood up and nodded. He looked at Daryl and then proceeded to pick him up, "C'mon, we need to tie him."

Having heard this, Hershel decided to interfere, "Now hold up" he began. "I made it clear to Daryl as I will make it clear to the both of you that I want him off my land immediately."

"We understand Hershel" began Rick. "But last time we allowed him to leave, we lost two good men. If you'll permit it, I'd like to keep him tied up until we figure out what to do with him."

Hershel was in a difficult situation. On one side, he wanted this killer far away from his family; but on the other side, he didn't want to risk what happened to Rick's people happen to his loved ones. "Just keep him as far away from my family as possible" he finally said.

Rick nodded, and with Lori's help, they both took the unconscious hunter somewhere secluded. After he was dealt with, they headed back to the house where they continued to wait for Shane and Otis to return with the needed supplies.

* * *

Several hours later

* * *

It was nighttime on the farm. Beth was upstairs in her bedroom writing in her journal while Jimmy was lying in her bed in boredom. Hershel's youngest daughter was recalling all of today's events with details into her journal. She knew the supplies for the boy's operation had arrived an hour back so they were just waiting for Maggie to come up and inform them about his health.

Jimmy would occasionally catch his girlfriend glancing at the clock. "If you're so curious about what's going on downstairs then maybe you should just go and check" he suggested with a chuckle.

Beth smiled, "Maggie told us to wait here." She peeked at the clock one last time before turning around to face Jimmy, "Do you think Otis will teach me how to handle sick people if I ask him?" she asked curiously.

Jimmy looked at her in confusion, "Why do you want him to teach you?"

"Well you nor Maggie want to teach me, and Otis is the only one that at least treats me like an adult."

"Don't you prefer to stay here where it's safe and peaceful?"

"I've stayed on this farm ever since the outbreak. I want to do something, I want to see the town… I'm just really bored here."

"Wouldn't you prefer to stay on the farm with me?" asked Jimmy playfully.

Beth just rolled her eyes, "I see you every day Jimmy." She turned back around to continue writing in her journal.

"I guess" responded Jimmy, "but it has been awhile since we've had some alone time like this."

"Jimmy, we talked about this. If daddy ever heard you talking like that, he- "

"But he's never here. Nobody would ever know if we took our relationship to the next level."

Beth sighed and turned to face him again, "Jimmy please, I don't want to talk about this again. I want to wait." She quickly turned back to her journal hoping that it was the end of it, but then Jimmy made one last desperate act that angered her.

"I thought you loved me…"

Beth turned one final time ready to scold him, but just before she could there was a gentle knock on the door. "Come in," she said still agitated.

Maggie slowly opened the door and walked into the bedroom. "Hey, I thought you'd both be asleep by now."

"We wanted to know how the boy was" responded Beth. She could tell that something was bothering her sister.

"Thankfully, the boy is stable and well… but Beth" she grabbed her sister by the shoulder and lead her to the bed to sit her down.

"What's going on?" asked the youngest Greene getting slightly concern.

"I need you to be strong when I tell you this" began Maggie which only scared her even more.

Jimmy was also curious as to what was going on, "What happened?"

A tear slid from Maggie's eye, "Otis… didn't make it back."

"What?" asked Beth. She immediately felt her heart sink.

"I'm sorry" Maggie tried her best to contain her sister before her words sunk in, but it was no use as the teen began crying.

Both Jimmy and Maggie did their best to comfort her but it felt like it was only fueling her tears.

"Bethy, you have to calm down… please stop crying" pleaded Maggie, but it was in vain as she continued to cry. In a way, Maggie was somewhat relieved that her sister took the news a lot better than Patricia who at the moment was being comforted by Hershel downstairs. For what seemed like an hour but was actually 5 minutes, Beth had finally managed to calm down.

Jimmy, feeling that both sisters needed to be alone decided to call it a night. He said his goodbye and made his way towards his room.

Once he was gone, Maggie released her hold on Beth and took a better look at her. She was definitely taking the news harder than she hoped. "You should get some rest, daddy wants to have a service tomorrow."

Beth slowly nodded as a few tears slid down her cheeks.

Maggie gave a warm smile and gently kissed her on the forehead. "I'll talk to you tomorrow," with that said she slowly got up and left the room.

Beth took some time to calm down and accept that Otis was gone. She didn't want to believe, but she had to. After an hour, Beth was finally able to close her eyes and get some sleep.

* * *

"We are gathered here to honor the memory of Otis" began Hershel.

Tears slid among the whole family while the Atlanta group had their heads bowed down in respect. Patricia couldn't contain her tears when Shane began recalling the events of Otis's death.

Beth could picture the images of Otis being dismantled in her head. _'How could they do this?"_ she asked herself. She knew what the sick were capable of as she experienced their behavior firsthand with her brother and mother. She didn't want to blame them, but who else could be at fault? She looked up to see Rick's group who continued to have their heads bowed down.

Her eyes later landed on Daryl who was also present. Since yesterday, at least one member of the group who was usually Andrea kept an eye on him at all times. Rick knew he wasn't going to escape since his weapons were currently being held inside the RV where either Glenn or Dale kept watch.

Beth saw that Daryl kept rolling his eyes at everything that Shane said. She remembered the last time she was with Otis, Daryl had killed Tommy in front of them. Her blood started to boil when she swore she could see hints of amusements in his expression. Once the service had ended, Beth immediately walked to where Daryl was being held. Just like her sister, she too had enough of him. Maggie wasn't the only one who could stand up for her family.

"Hey you!" shouted Beth once Daryl was in view.

The hunter turned and scowled when he saw her coming. He had grown tired of always being approached by Hershel or his two daughters. "What do ya want now?"

"I want to know what's your problem?" she asked.

Daryl raised an eyebrow, "What are you talking about?"

"I saw you smiling, do you find Otis's death amusing or something?"

Hearing this caused Daryl to smile, "Nah, I just find it amusing how all of y'all believed every word that man said."

"You think he's lying?" she asked curiously.

"Isn't it obvious?" began the archer. "If Shane was more than willing to leave ma brother stranded on a roof, I guarantee you he was willing to leave Otis in the hands of them walkers."

Beth couldn't believe what he was saying, "How dare you insinuate such things?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was Shane who screwed Otis to safely get away."

"Not everyone is a murderer like you" responded Beth.

Daryl looked at her seriously, "I did what I did to survive. Your friend Otis was the opposite of me and look where he is now."

At that moment, Beth had the urge to slap him but she restrained. "So what? Your advice to everyone is to be like you to survive?"

Daryl smirked, "Naw, that advice is for the strong… people who actually have a chance to survive." He paused for a moment to study her, "But for people like you… my advice is to enjoy what you have because once this farm goes to shit, it won't be long before you go down with it."

This caused Beth to snap, she swung her arm with the intentions to slap him but was stopped when the hunter caught her arm in mid swing.

"You won't last one week out there."

Having her arm in Daryl's grip, Beth did the only thing she could. She spat on Daryl's face. Seeing Daryl's reaction caused Beth to smirk as she was satisfied with her actions.

Daryl, on the other hand, felt a wave of mixed emotions. For one, he was fuming from being spit on; but then again, he felt somewhat surprised in a good way… something that he wasn't going to show. _'Maybe she'll have a better chance than I thought.'_

* * *

2 days later

* * *

It was morning at the farm, most of the guest and residents were already awake and doing their things. Beth slowly awoke from her sleep and stretched. She was somewhat excited as she knew today was her birthday. Not a moment later did she smell something good and sweet coming from downstairs. She quickly got up, dressed for the day, and headed downstairs.

Patricia was the only one in the kitchen when Beth walked in, "Happy birthday" she said without hesitation.

Beth smiled and hugged her, "Thank you."

"Guess what I'm making for you?" she asked with a smile.

Beth pretended that she was thinking for a moment, "Is it a cake?"

"A chocolate cake" confirmed Patricia.

Beth grinned after hearing this, she loved chocolate cake and with what's been going on lately she hadn't had any sweets lately. She noticed that no one else was in the house, "Where's everyone?"

"Jimmy and Hershel are outside with Rick and his group helping in the search for the little girl, and Maggie went with the Asian boy to the pharmacy. She should be back any minute."

And sure enough, Maggie arrived shortly. When she entered the house, Beth immediately noticed that she was shaken. She followed her into the room to investigate.

Maggie knew her little sister was behind her but with what happened today, she wasn't really in the mood to acknowledge her.

"Maggie what happened?" she asked with concern.

"Nothing Bethy, don't worry about it" replied the older sister.

"How can I not worry about you?" asked Beth. "Patricia said you went to the pharmacy with Glenn… did he do something to you?"

Maggie only shook her head in response.

"Then what happened?"

"Beth, I don't know what to think anymore" began Maggie. "I thought those people were only sick like daddy always said but with what happened today I'm starting to think Daryl might be right.

Beth was surprised from what she heard, "How can you say that? Daryl is a jerk who doesn't know what he's talking about."

"But Beth, if you saw what happened today, you too would doubt."

"What happened?"

"One of those… those… things tried to kill me and Glen nearly cut his head off."

Beth was slightly confused, "Glenn killed him?"

"The… walker was still alive Beth. His head was falling off, but he was still getting up."

Beth didn't exactly know what to say, "That can't be possible."

"They're dead, don't you understand? Daryl is right, he has to be" It was quiet for a moment as both girls didn't exactly know what to say until Maggie decided to speak up. "Just forget it..." she tried her best to give her a sincere smile. "After all, today is your birthday and Patricia told me she was going to bake you a cake."

Beth was silent for a moment as she was still in thought.

"Bethy…"

She snapped away from her thoughts, "yeah, I'm really excited."

"Well I'm going to take a shower and as soon as I get ready, you and I are going to spend the whole day together, just you and me." With that said, she walked outside and headed towards the bathroom.

* * *

Outside, the group was looking at a map to determine where to search for Sophia next. Daryl, on the other hand, was nearby eating from a can of corn.

Rick pointed to a location on the map south of the farm, "I'm thinking Shane and I could search here while Andrea and T-Dog continue searching along the river.

Hershel thought about the plan for a minute, "Or they could search in this location" he suggested as he pointed to a location further west. "There's this settlement that was under construction a while back. Might be a good place to hide."

Rick considered his suggestion before turning to Daryl, "I hear you're good with tracking."

Daryl ignored him and continued eating. Once everyone discovered that the barn was full of walkers, it didn't take long for him to realize where the missing girl was. He noticed Shane was demanding to clear out the barn as soon as possible, but Rick was hesitant.

"I was thinking that you could help us search for Sophia… of course I would keep an eye on you the whole time, but perhaps after being held here for a few days, you'd like to go outside the farm."

Daryl chuckled at his request, "You won't find her" he simply responded.

Shane, on the other hand, rolled his eyes, "You seriously considering to letting him out?"

"If he can be useful then yes" responded Rick

"Do you hear yourself?... suggesting us to release that redneck thinking he's going to comply.

"Then what do you suggest?" asked Rick annoyingly. "If you haven't noticed, these past few days we've been looking for Sophia, yet we haven't found a single clue to where she might be, but here we have a person that is capable of tracking her down."

At this, Shane stayed silent. Since yesterday, he had been suggesting Rick call off the search and focus on other matters.

Since there was no response, rick turned back to Daryl. "So, what do you say? Will you help us find Sophia?"

Now Daryl rolled his eyes, "Didn't ya hear me? I said you're never going to find that girl out there." He got up and was about to walk to the other side of the camp until Andrea stopped him.

"You're offered a chance to go out of the farm and you just say that we're never going to find her?"

"Just let him go" began Shane. "He's just going to slow us down like his brother."

Hearing this caused Daryl to turn back and face him, "T'hell did you just say?"

"You heard me" responded Shane.

Everyone that was outside turned to see the commotion.

"Why don't you come say it to my face?" challenged the hunter.

Shane was about to walk in front of him, but he was quickly stopped by T-Dogg, "whoa man, let's not start a fight."

At this moment, Carol decided to address the archer's earlier comments, "You're wrong" she began. "my daughter is out there and we will find her."

Daryl chuckled at her 'pathetic' confidence, "Ya sure about that?"

"Do you know where she is?" asked Rick curiously.

Daryl turned to Hershel who had yet to interfere, "Why don't you ask the good ol' farmer?"

The group turned to Hershel who remained silent. He looked completely lost as he had no idea what Daryl was talking about.

In this moment, Lori decided to speak up, "Don't listen to this man" she said referring to Daryl. "Can't you see he's just trying to get inside our heads...?"

"Blue shirt with a pretty little rainbow in the center?"

"What?" asked Shane.

"Wasn't that what she was wearing?"? asked Daryl. "A blue shirt with a rainbow?"

Carol immediately covered her mouth to prevent a gasp from coming out.

"If you know something, I demand you to tell us" demanded Rick.

Daryl chuckled, "Think about it, if you can't find her outside the Greene property then maybe you should look for her inside the Greene property."

Everyone including Rick was confused about his suggestion, "Are you trying to say that Sophia is on this farm?"

"Try the barn" answered the hunter with a satisfied smirk. He was waiting for an opportunity like this and he wasn't going to let it go.

"No…" whispered Carol, "My daughter can't be in there, right Hershel?"

Everyone again turned to Hershel who remained quiet. He never once thought about the possibility that the little girl that Otis brought, was the same exact girl that they were searching for.

His lack of a response triggered Shane, "Are you kidding me? You mean to tell me that Sophia has been in that barn the entire time" he asked pointing to the barn in question.

Now it was Andrea who decided to voice her thought, "Guys if Daryl is right and Sophia is in there wouldn't that mean- "

Rick interrupted and got in front of his best friend, "Enough of this, don't you see that this is what Daryl wants?"

"Didn't you listen?" asked Shane. "How the fuck do you explain that this redneck knows what that girl was wearing? If it isn't true then why isn't Hershel saying anything?" The more Shane thought about the possibility of the girl being close to them the entire time, the angrier he became. "You're right, enough is enough." He picked up a pickaxe and started marching towards the barn.

The whole group instantly became alarmed, "What are you doing?" asked Rick.

"The hell do you think I'm going?!" yelled Shane. "I'm done living next to a barn full of walkers, and I'm done looking for a girl that could very well be in that same barn."

Glenn quickly hopped down the RV and tried to do something, "Shane, this is crazy. If you do this there's no turning back." Seeing as Shane was inching closer to the doors, he turned to Hershel who looked like he was lost in his thoughts. " Hershel, say something" but he only remained quiet.

"Shane!" yelled Rick as he along with everyone else ran to try and stop him, but it was too late as he was already breaking the lock. "Don't do this brother" pleaded the former sheriff but it was in vain as he continued.

As soon as Shane successfully ripped the lock, he removed the chains and proceeded to bang the doors to attract the walkers. He immediately pulled his gun out and took a few steps back to get some space, "Come and get me."

It wasn't long before walkers slowly came out and made their way towards Shane.

One-by-one Shane fired a bullet towards their brain. It didn't take long for Andrea and T-Dog to join the massacre.

The sound of gun fires startled everyone that was inside the house as they quickly came out. Beth, Maggie, and Patricia couldn't believe what they were witnessing. In that moment, both sisters saw their infected brother killed.

"Shawn!" yelled Beth, but before she could run to the scene, she was held by Maggie.

Bullets later, the three had finished killing everyone that came out of the barn. Once it was over, Rick turned to Hershel who was horrified of what he just witnessed. He walked to the corpses to inspect them. He noticed that among the dead, Sophia was nowhere to be seen. He was about to say something, but then he heard a moan that came from inside the barn.

It felt like the world had slowed down when out of the barn came a walker that was no doubt Sophia.

"Sophia!" yelled Carol as she tried to run to her daughter but was stopped by Glenn who grabbed her.

Everyone was stunned and couldn't move. Beth and Maggie were able to walk to where her father and Jimmy was.

The girl kept getting closer and still no one dared to move. With a heavy heart, Rick pulled out his gun and killed her to end her suffering.

Carol turned her head to avoid seeing her daughter's body drop lifeless to the ground. As soon as it was done, she pushed Glenn away and ran to the RV.

Beth could see where her mother was lying and her emotions got the better of her. She slowly walked to where her mother was, "Mom…?" she reached out and turned her mother, but as soon as she did, her mother grabbed Beth's hair and attacked despite having a bullet in her face.

The whole group instantly tried to separate the two. It wasn't until Andrea grabbed the pickaxe and used it to kill the walker did she release her hold.

Maggie, Jimmy, and Hershel quickly raced to grab Beth. Once they did, they immediately realized that she was experiencing an asthma attack. "where's her inhaler?" asked Hershel completely shaken of how all of this is happening.

"I th-think it's in the kitchen" responded Maggie unable to think straight.

Jimmy quickly stood up, "No, I know where it is. I'll get it" He immediately started running to the house to get the inhaler.

Rick looked around. Despite being concerned for Beth, he was actually also relieved that the barn walkers weren't going to be a problem anymore, but this was not how he wanted to solve this. Even though Shane was the one who unlocked the barn doors. Rick knew who the real person at fault was, he turned around ready to confront him and that's when he noticed it. Daryl was gone. Ignoring everyone else, Rick ran to the RV and opened the cabinet where Daryl's weapons were stored, gone. In between everything that happened, Daryl had managed to grab his stuff and escape.

"Just great," Rick said to himself.

* * *

 ** _A/N: So that's the end of that arc. I really hope you enjoyed it. The next arc will center around the prison arc in the show._**

 ** _Honestly, I'm really excited about this story going forward as I have tons of ideas that I can't wait to write. For any of you who might wonder how this story will eventually turn Bethyl, rest assured as I already know exactly what I'm going to do. As always, reviews are always welcomed and greatly appreciated._**

 ** _Oh and one last thing, because of the positive comments and views this story has had, I would like to give all of you a special treat as a thank you for giving this story a chance... a sneak peak to the next arc. Hope you love it. Till next time!_**

* * *

Daryl brushed a few leaves from the ground to get a better look at the tracks.

His hunting partner Dan stopped behind him, "What do ya got there?"

"Deer tracks" responded the hunter.

Dan smiled at the thought of eating deer meat tonight. "Then what are we waiting for? let's get it."

Daryl stood up and shook his head, "These tracks are hours old, deer must be miles away by now."

Dan felt disappointed, "Well what are we gonna do about it"

They both began walking further into the woods with their eyes peeled in case an animal or walker appeared.

"So where were you yesterday morning?" asked Dan curiously. After failing to get an answer he continued. "Len and Lou have been complaining to Joe that you're always disappearing. They say you can't be trusted. "

"And why are you telling me this?" asked Daryl curiously.

"Because unlike Len and Lou, most of us actually like having you in the group. The way you handled them biters weeks ago was pretty impressive."

Daryl grunted, he didn't want to admit that he was somewhat flattered with his compliment; but in reality, it's actually him that doesn't trust the group.

As they kept walking, Dan's walkie-talkie sounded, "Dan and Daryl, you there?"

Dan picked up the walkie-talkie, "Yea what do ya need?"

"You wouldn't believe what Harley found... two young lovers."

Daryl noticed the grin on Dan's face widen, "Be right there." He put the item down and turned to his partner, "let's go."

Daryl rolled his eyes and began following him. Unfortunately, Daryl knew exactly what this meant. Odds are when they arrive, the male will already be dead; and soon, the female will wish she was dead. Even though he didn't approve of this, there wasn't much he could do about it.

They finally arrived at their destination. As they were walking to the entrance. Both hunters noticed a boy in the distance running away.

"Hmm guess Joe decided to let him go?" said Dan.

They entered the building and Daryl could see the rest of the group circled around someone who he can only assume is the girl.

"Good, you're finally back" began Joe. "Now we can start the fun."

Daryl could hear the girls sobs grow louder when Joe said that. "I'll just continue hunting" he said.

Joe and the rest of the group turned to him. "Again you don't want to join us?" asked the leader of the claimers. "You sure? this girl is mighty pretty." As soon as he said that, Harley and Billy stepped aside so Daryl could see the victim.

Daryl could not believe what he was seeing. Right there tied up in front of him was the same girl from the farm, "You?"


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Hello Everyone! I'm back again with the sixth chapter to this story! So, I was hoping to have had this chapter finished a while ago but to be honest, this chapter was surprisingly very complicated and frustrating to write. I had to start over so many times because I didn't like where I was going. Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Your comments helped push me to keep going and do better. All of you are awesome!_

 _So without further ado, I present to you the next chapter to 'Don't Leave.' Hope you enjoy._

* * *

 _Disclaimer: I own nothing_

* * *

It had been roughly a year since Daryl successfully escaped the Farm back at Senoia. Ever since that day, the hunter had been hopping from town-to-town searching and looting long abandoned houses.

Admittedly, the winter season had been extremely rough for him because of the freezing temperatures and lack of food sources. Fortunately, those times were long gone and judging by the wind patterns, the next season was still months away.

Currently, Daryl was searching the final house for today. The kitchen was mostly empty, and the food that was there was completely molded and unfit to eat. The search wasn't a complete waste of time though as he found a water filter in the storage room. He grabbed his belongings and headed towards the exit.

Once he was outside, he proceeded to head straight for the woods where he preferred. There was another town a couple of miles down the road that he intended to search in the morning. Now, he was just focused on hunting something to eat for the night.

* * *

The hunter could not believe his luck today. Nearly two hours of hunting, and he had only managed to kill a small squirrel. Realizing that the moon was coming up, Daryl decided to go ahead and start a fire and set up traps.

As his meal was cooking, Daryl was tying a rope with cans to the nearby trees. He was about finished when suddenly a man appeared in front of him. The hunter was so surprised that when he stepped back, he accidentally fell to the ground.

"Whoa there little brother"

Daryl got a good look at him and was left speechless when he saw who it was.

"What's the matter with you? Cat got your tongue?"

"M…Merle?" asked Daryl in shock.

"The one and only" responded the older hunter.

"How did you find me?... Where have you been?" So many questions were going through the archer's head at the moment.

Merle let out a slight chuckle, "You would know if you hadn't stopped looking for me."

Daryl managed to regain his composure and stand up, "What ya talkin about?" he asked. "I went back for ya at Atlanta, but when I got there you were gone."

"Well, I wasn't goin to stay there for the biters to get a hold of me" responded Merle as he circled the younger hunter.

"You should've known that I was goin to return for ya… all you had to do was wait a little longer."

"And then what?" asked Merle as he stopped in front of him. "We were just goin to run away, steal all the supplies like we had planned?" He shook his head, "No little brother, I wanted more than to just steal their supplies… " he pointed to the gun Daryl had in its holster, "I wanted to put a bullet in the sheriff's head."

Daryl rolled his eyes, "That would've been easy" he simply responded.

"Then why haven't you?" questioned Merle getting the hunter's full attention. "You had a chance to kill him back then when you returned to their camp… yet you just stole their supplies and killed the wrong people."

At this point, Daryl was highly confused by how his older brother could've known what happened after he got back to the camp.

"Or what about the farm?" continued Merle. "Ya had numerous chances to think of something; yet all ya cared about was escaping that place and recovering ma bike."

Daryl studied his older brother intensely. He stopped when he realized that Merle had two hands instead of one. "You ain't real" he simply shrugged trying to hide his disappointment.

"Of course I'm not" responded Merle with a scowl. "For all you know, I could be one of them biters right now… Like you'd care."

Daryl was admittedly offended after hearing those words, yet he stayed silent as there was no point in arguing with a mirage. Ignoring his food that was still in the fire, he simply just lied down and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

It was midday in Georgia. Daryl was in the town of Kennesaw searching all the stores and houses for supplies. Unfortunately, just like Marietta and Smyrna, the town was mostly empty with the exception of many items that were all but useless.

He entered a small business in the center of the town. All the counters and decoration were ruined and unfixable. He headed straight for the back of the store where the food aisle was. Just like any other store, every shelf and fridge was empty. The Hunter sighed as he was beginning to accept that Kennesaw was pretty much a dud.

As he was about to leave, he came across a door that must've lead to another room. When he opened it, he immediately noticed the dead walker on the floor. Ignoring it, he searched the office in the hopes of finding something interesting. He raised an eyebrow when he found a note on the desk.

' _ **Dear Friend,**_

 **If you're reading this it's because you managed to do what I couldn't. I'm truly sorry for anything that I could've done while being one of them.**

 **I'm leaving this note to inform you that in the corner of this office, there is a safe that contains many valuables including $20,000, two guns, and seven boxes of ammo. I sincerely hope that it can be of good use to you. The combination is- 25 12 30. May God bless you.**

 **Yours truly, Grayson.**

Without hesitation, Daryl dropped the note and began looking in each corner for the safe. To his disappointment, he found and already opened and empty safe. _'Ya got to be kiddin me?'_ thought Daryl in complete frustration. This had to be one of the roughest weeks he's faced since the winter season. Realizing that there was no point in staying there, Daryl exited the building and continued his search along the town.

* * *

He walked into a small neighborhood where there were two walkers on the street. Upon seeing him, the walkers began walking towards him.

Not really caring, Daryl loaded up his crossbow and quickly dispatched them. He entered one of the many houses and began searching it. He needed to find some canned foods, water bottles, ammo, and even medications since his brother's stash wouldn't last forever.

As to be expected, the hunter was currently in the third house and he had yet to find anything that he could use.

As he was checking the house, he came upon a few family portraits of the owners on the second floor. The family consisted of the two parents with a son and two daughters. As he was looking at the picture, he heard a sound coming from downstairs. He immediately walked to the door and listened in for any sound that might give him a clue of what entered. He knew they weren't walkers because he closed the door, and he doubted that one of them would open it without a reason. He could hear a number of voices downstairs, but they were all saying only one word,

"Claimed…" "claimed…" "claimed."

Before Daryl could think of a plan, he immediately heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Without hesitation, he ran to hide in the closet.

Moments later, he heard a few people entering the room.

"Claimed." "Claimed." "Claimed."

Daryl set up his crossbow in front of him and waited for the inevitable.

Within a minute, the closet doors opened.

"Cl-" the stranger immediately stepped back in surprise.

Daryl stepped out of the doors with his bolt pointing towards the heart of the man in front of him.

Everyone immediately became alarmed of the situation as they took out their weapons.

"Whoa there…" said a stranger who looked like he was the leader. "Let's not do something stupid."

Daryl remained focused on everyone around him. He didn't want to be surprised by anyone who may come up behind him.

The leader of the group stepped up. "Why don't you put that weapon of yours down?" he asked, "You're scaring the shit out of Billy." Realizing that the hunter wasn't going to comply so easily, the leader decided to take a different approach, "Everyone, put your gun's down" he ordered as he placed his gun on the floor.

After some hesitation, everyone except Daryl placed their weapons on the floor.

Daryl studied everyone before finally lowering his crossbow.

"A bowman…" began Joe with a smile. "I respect that. See, a man with a rifle, he could have been some kind of photographer or soccer coach back in the days. But a bowman's a Bowman through and through." He checked out the crossbow, "What you got there, 150-pound draw weight?" he asked. "I'll be donkey-licked if that don't fire at least 300 feet per second… I've been lookin for a weapon like that. Of course, I'd want one with a bit more ammo and minus the oblongata stains.

"Get yourself in some trouble, partner?" mocked someone behind the hunter with a chuckle.

"You do something to any of us and the boys are gonna drop you several times over" Stated Joe. "Is that what you want…? C'mon fella, suicide is stupid. Why hurt yourself when you can hurt other people…? The name's Joe"

After a moment of silence, the Hunter finally spoke, "Daryl."

* * *

 _A/N: And that's it for this chapter, hopefully, the next one will not take as long. Reviews and suggestions are always welcome and highly appreciated. Thank you for your patience, till next time and take care._


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Hey everyone! I'm back with the next chapter to this story, I want to apologize for again being late with this story. Twice I've finished this chapter but both times I scrapped it for another route. P.s if this story ever had a deleted scenes segment, I'd have plenty to tell haha. Anyways, thanks to all of you for your patience and reviews, they really mean a lot._

 ** _Reignashii:_** _Today, a few of the questions will be answered._

 ** _Tales of Asalea:_** _I have everything planned out, I guarantee you, this story is just going to get better and better._

 _Reviews are always accepted and greatly appreciated, now on with the chapter!_

* * *

 _Disclaimer: I own nothing._

* * *

It had been three months since Daryl had opted for sticking with Joe and his group. Admittedly, the hunter wasn't too keen on staying as he was already considering the idea of going solo again. Being a part of the claimers had been a very peculiar experience so far. At first, everything seemed... combustible. For one, he and Len nearly got into a fight over a dead animal. Both of them weren't too keen on sharing their "breakfast." To make matters worst, Len had conspired against the hunter by placing his half of the animal in Daryl's bag with the intention of calling him a thief and getting him killed. Something that didn't go unpunished by Joe who exposed the plot and had Len executed. Ever since that day, some of the members have had it out for him.

Even if all the members despised him, it wouldn't have mattered to John. The leader of the claimers was quite fond of the hunter. He knew that Daryl was their best fighter and by far their best chance of survival. Ever since Daryl had joined the claimers, they've had a minimum to no complications in dealing with walkers. A huge example of this was when the group was ambushed and nearly trapped against a broken down factory. Thanks to Daryl, everyone was able to safely escape. They even had the pleasure of burning down the factory and killing the walkers that remained inside.

The group arrived in a small town north of Senoia. It was their fourth town in three months. Daryl and everyone else started dispatching the many walkers that were roaming the streets. Eventually, they managed, to clear out the main street of any danger. Joe began to mentally count each house. "Ok, so let's divide into groups and start searching each house. Billy, you and Dan search the houses on the West. Harley, Lou, and Tony will search the East side. Daryl and I will search the houses further ahead.

Everyone nodded in agreement and did as they were told.

* * *

Daryl and Joe were searching the first house for any valuables. Unfortunately, like every other home or store they came upon, the place was empty. Both men eventually gave up and went to the next house. They continued this cycle for a couple of hours until Joe decided to take a short break. They both sat on the sidewalk and started talking.

"Looks like we hit another shit town" commented Joe in a frustrated tone.

"Still got a few houses to search" responded Daryl.

Joe couldn't help but scoff, I doubt there will be anything there either... looks like you'll have to give us a hand and hunt something for all of us again."

Before Daryl could reply, they both heard a feminine scream nearby. "Did ya hear that?" asked the hunter as he stood up. "Sounds like it's coming from there," he said as he pointed to one of the houses.

"Do you think it's one of the guys?" asked Joe.

"Nah, that sounded like a woman, ima go check it out" and with that said, the hunter raced towards the house. The first thing he noticed when he got there were the noises that were coming from inside. The door was locked so he decided to kick it open. He immediately noticed that a young woman was on the ground with a recently turned walker on top of her. The dead corpse was desperately trying to take a bite out of her, but it was being restrained by the woman who was using a broom.

She noticed the stranger that had entered her home, "Please help" she pleaded, feeling that she wasn't able to hold out for much longer.

The hunter aimed his crossbow and fired it at the cranium of the walker killing it instantly.

Realizing that the danger was gone, the girl immediately pushed the corpse away from her. "Thank you" she said as she stood up and to Daryl's surprise, embraced him.

"Are you ok?" he asked quite awkwardly.

"I am thanks to you" she responded. She quickly ran to one of the nearby rooms and knocked on it, "Chris, you can come out now."

After a brief moment of silence, the door opened to reveal a young man who was using crutches to walk, "Is he dead?"

The woman happily smiled, "He came in and killed it" she responded pointing to the hunter.

The young man quickly turned to Daryl and thanked him, "Thank you so much, if it wasn't for you, I don't know what would've happened."

This honestly felt so new to the archer. The idea of being thanked instead of cursed upon felt... weird. "No problem" he eventually responded.

The young man struggled but reached the young woman who he kissed and embraced. He next turned to the hunter again, "Is there anything that we can do for you in appreciation for saving us?"

Those were the words that Daryl wanted to hear. He was about to ask for supplies when suddenly Joe entered the house.

"What's going on here?" he asked. His eyes immediately lit up as he smiled sadistically when eyeing the girl.

The couple looked confused for a moment, "You must be a friend of his" figured the woman. "Your friend just saved us from a biter and we would love to repay you by offering some supplies and food."

"some?" questioned the leader of the claimers with a laugh. "I'd much rather take everything."

The couple and Daryl looked at Joe in confusion.

"You can't be serious?" asked the young man.

Joe ignored the question as he brought out his walkie talkie, "Everyone, come to the house near the end of the main street... Daryl just found us a nice supply of food along with... a little lady."

Hearing this, the young man ignored the pain in his leg as he got in front of his girlfriend who now had a look of fear. "Don't you dare touch her" he threatened.

Again Joe began to laugh, "Boy, you are in no shape to be defending your partner, but don't worry... in a few minutes you won't even be alive." He proceeded to take out his gun which instantly alarmed the hunter.

"What are you doing?"

"Claiming what is now ours" responded Joe.

At this point, the woman now had tears in her eyes, "Please, don't let him hurt us. You can take everything you want, just please."

"Since you saved the girl" continued Joe. "I'll let you be the first to play with her."

Daryl just stared at him for a moment, "Man you know this ain't right."

Joe scowled, "Right or wrong means nothing now. Only the ones who are strong will get what they want."

In that moment, the rest of the group stepped inside the house causing the look of fear to grow immensely within the couple. Each one of them eyed the girl with a look of hunger.

"Separate them" ordered Joe to which everyone but Daryl obeyed.

The young man fought back, but he was clearly no match for the five members as they successfully separated them ignoring their threats and pleas.

Daryl wanted to do something about it, but he couldn't think of anything.

"So what will it be?" asked Joe. "Will you warm her up?"

The hunter turned to the women who was all out crying now and begging for them to let her boyfriend and her go. In that moment, the realization hit him... he just saved her so she could experience something perhaps worst than death. "I think I'll go hunt instead..."

The couple's face instantly paled as their last hope was leaving. "Please don't leave us!" begged the girl.

Daryl knew that there was nothing he could do as he stepped out of the house and walked away. Moments later, he heard a gunshot coming from that direction.

* * *

A few days later

Beth was in her cell writing in her journal. She had just finished helping her father check the plants and animals and was currently waiting for her boyfriend to return from the run. Although this prison cell was nothing from her room back home, it was far better than the life they had after the farm was overrun. She was about finished writing when she heard a knock on her cell door.

"Mind if I come in?"

Beth looked up and immediately lit up when she saw the boy she was waiting for, "Zach" she acknowledged as she stood up and hugged him. "How was the run?"

"Cake" he responded. "We actually found quite a few supplies that could really help us."

That's great" she responded, but before she could say anything else, the boy got closer to her and started kissing her.

"Did you miss me?" he asked in a teasing tone.

Beth giggled once they parted their lips, "Of course silly."

Zach didn't say anything else as he preferred to kiss her some more. After a few moments, he stepped back, "So what did you have planned for today?"

Beth rolled her eyes, "It's not like we can do much in here."

"Not here, but outside of the prison..."

"Zach be serious."

"I am" responded the boy with an amused smile. "We actually stumbled upon this nice place just a couple of minutes from here. I was thinking that maybe we could go now. You did say you once wanted to see what life was like out there."

Beth walked to her bed and sat down, "That was a year ago, but after seeing what those walkers can do I realized that I was wrong, you know that Zach."

Zach gave a sigh, "I do and I was hoping you could get passed that fear and come with me. Sooner or later you're going to have to face the real world."

"Well, that day isn't today."

"Why not? today is perfect, plus you'll be with me who has experience in dealing with walkers. Aren't you still curious to the outside world or what I want to show you?" He knew this might backfire as she could get mad, but he also knew that she was very curious and was hoping that could convince her.

"I mean I guess, but I couldn't even if I wanted to. Daddy would never allow me to leave the prison."

"That's why we're going to sneak through the back of the prison. Nobody ever watches that side because it's completely safe."

"I really don't know..." Admittedly, Beth really wanted to leave this prison even if it was just for a few moments, but she couldn't deny the fear she had of walkers.

"It's only a few minutes away, nobody will even notice we left" responded Zach hoping that he convinced her.

Beth began to debate what she wanted to do. Eventually, her curiosity got the better of her, "Ok, I'll go."

Zach immediately flashed a smile, "Great, now let's go." He grabbed his girlfriend by the hand and quietly they both made their way outside the prison without being spotted. Once they were outside the fences, Zach started leading her west, "This way" he said as they both started walking carefully to not make a sound and alert any possible walkers nearby.

* * *

After a while, they reached a building that was located in the middle of the woods. To Beth's annoyance, this was the place he was talking about. "You're kidding right?" she asked in a frustrated tone. "You said it was a couple of minutes away and it felt like we walked for an hour, and what could I have possibly found interesting about this abandoned warehouse?"

Zach immediately gave a look that raised the girl's suspicion. "I have a confession... there is nothing I wanted to show you. I just wanted to bring you here so we could be alone." The look that she had quickly told him that this was a mistake.

"Are you kidding me?" she asked now furious. "Zach, I demand you to take me home, now."

"No wait" responded the boy as he grabbed her hands to which she quickly pulled away. "At the prison, we never get time to actually be alone"

"And what's your point?" she asked. "Back there we're safe. What could we possibly get here that we couldn't get there-" In that moment, it hit her. "Zach, take me home now."

Realizing that he was caught, he immediately defended himself. "Beth seriously? What do you want to wait for? this place is perfect for our first time, and there isn't a single walker in over a thirty-minute radius at least."

"I will not have this conversation, now take me home, or should I go by myself?"

Knowing that she was bluffing in that last past, Zach decided to try to persuade her a little harder. "C'mon Beth, you know you want to," he said cooly as he started giving her light kisses.

"Stop" ordered Beth to which she was ignored as he continued. She tried to push him away, but he had a firm grip on her. "Zach please, I don't want to do this now. Let's just go ho-"

"Well look what we have here..." came a rough voice that startled the couple.

Both Beth and Zach turned to see five stranger. Each with a mallicous look.


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: Hey everyone! what's up! I'm back with the next chapter to this story. Thanks to all of your for the patience and reviews, all of you are awesome! I'm really excited about this story going forward as it is now starting to pick up. I'll admit that I felt really rusty writing this chapter, but I believe it turned out extremely well. Hope all of you enjoy and reviews are greatly appreciated._

* * *

 _Disclaimer: I own nothing._

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Don't Leave Chapter 8

Daryl slowly kneeled down to the ground and gently brushed a few leaves to get a better view of a set of tracks that were imprinted on the dirt.

Noticing this, his hunting partner Dan stopped next to him, "What do ya got there?"

"Deer tracks," responded the hunter. "Two of em."

Dan grinned at the thought of eating deer meet tonight, "Than what are we waitin' for? Let's go and get'em"

Daryl stood up and shook his head, "These tracks are a couple hours old… dem deers must be miles away by now."

Dan felt highly disappointed, "Well… what are we gonna do about it…" They both began walking further into the woods with their eyes peeled in case an animal or walker appeared. "So… where were you yesterday morning?" asked Dan curiously. After failing to get an answer, he continued. "Len and Lou have been complainin to Joe that yer always disappearing. They say you can't be trusted."

"And why are you telling me this?" asked Daryl curiously.

"Because, unlike Len and Lou, most of us actually like havin you in the group… The way you handled dem biters a few weeks ago was very impressive."

Daryl grunted. He was never gonna admit that he was somewhat flattered with the compliment; but in reality, it's actually him that doesn't trust the group.

As they kept walking, Dan's walkie-talkie started to sound. "Dan… Daryl, you there?"

Dan quickly picked up his device, "Yea, what do ya need?"

"It's our lucky day. You wouldn't believe what Harley here found… two young lovebirds."

Daryl noticed the grin on Dan's face widen, "Be right there." He placed the walkie-talkie down and turned towards the hunter, "Let's go."

* * *

Back in the warehouse, Joe and the rest of the group searched the entire building for any potential valuables. Unfortunately, there was barely anything of use. While some of the claimers continued looking, Harley decided to keep watch of the two teens who were tied up against the wall… His mouth watered at the sight of the young girl in front of him. Every now and then he would caress her face or legs causing more tears to run down her cheeks. With every single contact he made with her, Harley's lust only increased. Any minute, Dan and Daryl would arrive and he has first dibs on her.

Beth; on the other hand, was beyond terrified. She was disgusted with every single touch she received from the perverted man. She wanted to scream out for help… to beg him to stop, but with the cloth in her mouth, all she could do is cry.

After having searched the entire warehouse, the group joined Harley to discuss their game plan.

Zach's eye's widened like saucers when the group was openly debating how they were going to kill him in a few minutes. One wanted to stab him in the head. Another suggested they burn him to avoid the putrid stench that could attract the walkers; but the other, who spoke like he was the leader had a much more sinister idea. He preferred to cut out his legs and use him as bait to attract the roamers that were all over a small town that had good potential for food. Hell, they could even use Beth for the same purpose after they had their fun with her.

The more they openly discussed their plan, the more Beth had the urge to throw up. At that moment, she thought about everyone back at the prison. Her father Hershel… Rick, Carol, Carl, Michonne, Glenn… but most importantly Maggie. Her sister whom she always looked up to. She can imagine her realizing that she's not in the prison. At this time, she could be desperately searching for her. More tears streamed down her cheeks at the thought of never seeing her father or sister ever again.

Zach, on the other hand, has had enough. He desperately needed to find a way out of this predicament. Unable to speak, he began twisting and turning violently in order to get their attention.

Joe looked at him and scoffed, "Someone shut that boy up."

Hearing that, Len walked towards Zach and swung a heavy blow that instantly left a bruise on his left cheek.

Beth jumped in shock, but Zach slowly got up and continued to call out for attention.

Joe rolled his eyes as he suddenly became curious about what the boy had to say. He signaled for Len to remove the cloth from his mouth to which he did.

"Please… please, you don't have to do this," he pleaded. "Let us go."

"No can do lover boy," responded the leader of the claimers. He signaled for Len to put the cloth back.

Zach resisted as much as he could. "No, get away from me!" he yelled. He continued to resist before he looked up towards Joe, "COWARD!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. "Coward."

Joe immediately stopped Len, "What di ya say boy?" he asked with a look of anger.

"You want to kill us like animals without giving us the chance to fight back. You and your group are all cowards."

Joe's blood started to boil. He never liked being called a coward and he certainly wasn't going to allow a brat to call him that without any form of punishment. "Release him," he ordered. He was going to teach the boy a lesson. He put down his knife and gun. "I'll make you a deal," he said as Len untied the rope and released the young adult. "If you can put me down, I promise the boys will release the both of you." Zach stood up and glared at the man. He wasn't sure if he should believe him; but before he could fully process what he was thinking, he swung his fist towards the claimer's jaw. Unfortunately for him, his attack was blocked and he felt a massive blow to his abdomen which effectively knocked the wind right out of him. Before he could even begin to regain his breath, Joe continued to deliver punches to the sides of his head.

Beth couldn't stand watching her boyfriend get brutalized to death. She yelled for them to stop as best as she could as she still had the fabric in her mouth.

After realizing that the boy wasn't going to fight back, Joe decided to stop his assault and stood back up. He grabbed his handkerchief and wiped the blood out of his fists. He turned to Beth and noticed that it was now her whom was pleading to speak. He personally removed the cloth from her mouth and gave her the floor.

"Please… let us go… I beg you," she pleaded. She had no idea what she could say that would get them out of this situation. Seeing the looks from the group, she turned to Zach who was slowly beginning to sit back up. "Than let him go," she said with tears in her eyes.

Joe and the rest of the group looked amused, "What did ya say?" asked Joe.

Beth remained silent for a moment before struggling to take a deep breath. "You said it yourself… it's me who all of you want… Please, you don't need to kill Zach… just let him go and you can do whatever you want with me without any resistance from my part…" More tears streamed down her cheeks with every word, but everything was already lost for her. She was going to get raped and then executed either way, but all they want Zach for is for bait… something they also considered using her for anyways. _'I'm sure Maggie would've done the same for Glenn,'_ she thought.

Joe looked at her for a moment, he had to admit that he gained some form of respect for her. Still, respect meant nothing to him and the idea of freely filling his desires without getting kneed in the balls or scratched was actually more tempting than he would've thought.

Zach stared at Beth. He couldn't believe what she was saying. He knew that it was his fault that they were in this mess, and because of that, he needed to rescue her. "Beth…" he whispered.

At that moment, Joe smiled in a creepy demeanor as he suddenly had an idea. One that could possibly benefit him in more ways than one. "Alright," he said causing everyone to look at him in surprise. "I'll tell you what. We will release one of you."

The rest of the group especially Harley looked at him disapprovingly. They didn't like the idea of releasing the girl without completing their desires. Joe returned a stern look before turning his focus on Beth. "You've touched me and because of that, I will set one of you free… Which one you ask…" He looked at Zach and pulled him up aggressively by the arm. "Will be decided by him."

Zach was in shock. If Joe keeps his word, then the future of Beth lies in his hand.

Joe released the boy and took a step back. "Choose boy," he ordered. "Choose to save yourself and you will go free right now; but be warned, the minute you leave, we will have our way with the girl. Every single one of us before we kill her. Choose to save her, and we'll set her free… but I promise you… if you make that choice, I assure you that we will make the rest of your hours a living Hell. We will cut you up and break you down before feeding your limbs to dem walkers. So, You have a big choice to make… be wise and save yourself… or be foolish and save your pretty little girlfriend."

Beth was speechless. Words could not describe the emotions she was feeling. One one hand, hearing about Zach's faith if she chooses her horrifies her. She would never wish that upon even her worst enemy; but on the other hand, she wanted to be set free. To void herself of having to experience such a terrifying experience. She looked into Zach's eyes as he knelt down in front of her.

Zach didn't know what to do. His heart couldn't stop racing. He looked into Beth's eyes and felt as if he could see deep into her heart. _'If it was her choice, she would choose to save me,'_ he thought with a painful expression. "I'm sorry Beth…" he whispered with tears in both of their eyes. "I shouldn't have done this to you… Everything could've been avoided if I never asked you to come with me." There was a small pause for a moment. Zach took a deep breath and placed both his hands on her cheeks. Unable to say anything, he leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, "I love you," he whispered.

Before Beth could respond, her heart immediately skipped a beat when he suddenly stood up and walked towards the door at a rather quick pace. Beth could feel her whole world crashing down as her last hope had turned his back on her and walked towards the exit without any resistance. "Za-Za…" she mumbled, but it was in vain as the young adult left the room without once turning around.

The satisfaction on the face of the group was priceless. Everything had gone perfectly for Joe who was ready for Harley to have his turn so he could be next to have his way. "Who's the coward now," he said.

* * *

After approximately twenty minutes of walking, both Dan and Daryl finally arrived at the warehouse. As they were walking to the entrance, both hunters noticed a boy in the distance that was running away.

"Guess Joe decided to let'im go," commented Dan.

They entered the building and Daryl could see the rest of the group circled around someone who he can only assume to be the girl.

"Good, you're finally back," began Joe. "Now we can start the fun."

Daryl could hear the girl's sobs grow louder when Joe said that. "I'll just continue hunting," he said.

Joe and the rest of the group turned to him. "Again you don't want to join us?" asked the leader of the claimers. "You sure…? This girl is mighty pretty." As soon as he said that, both Harley and Billy stepped aside so Daryl could see the victim.

Daryl could not believe what he was seeing. Right there tied up in front of him was the same girl from the farm, "You?"

"D-Daryl…" murmured the young adult as she could feel her heart racing faster than she could think possible. At this point, her only savior could be an asthma attack. It would be a painful way to go, but a much better way. She quickly prayed for death to barge into her life, but it didn't come.

Joe looked genuinely confused, "You know each other?" he asked.

Daryl looked surprised for a moment before a smile crept up on his face. "Yeah," he responded. "This bitch and I go way back."

"Well by the looks of it, y'all didn't have a healthy relationship…"

"Naw," responded the hunter. "Because of her and her group, I was locked up in a farm unable to leave,"

"Well," came Joe. "Than for once you might want to actually join our fun."

Daryl looked at the girl who looked like she's seen a ghost. He could easily just walk out right now and let the claimers have their way with her. After a pause, he finally spoke up, "I got a better idea."

Everyone looked at him in curiosity. "What is that?" asked Dan.

"How about I get the first thirty minutes with her?"

"Hell no," quickly responded Harley. "I got first dibs and I've been waiting all day. I won't give you my turn for nothing."

"Not even for a much better looking girl?" quickly responded the hunter causing the other members to look even more confused. Beth, on the other hand, felt a cold shiver on the back of her spine. She knew what he meant. "Simple," began Daryl. "This girl right here has an older sister… one that I'm sure could easily satisfy everyone here. Something must've happened at the farm; and if this girl made it than the sister had to have made it as well. If you give me thirty minutes with her, I guarantee all of you that I can get their location."

Beth was speechless. Knowing Daryl's history, she could see him torturing her to get the location of the prison.

Seeing as the group remained silent, Daryl turned to Harley, "What do ya say?" he asked. "Let me have your turn and you can have her sister."

"And how do I know I can trust you…? This seems like a very big gamble with the odds against me… What are you gaining from this?"

Daryl instantly remembered Rick and how he would love nothing more than to put an arrow through him. "I got a score to settle with a few of her group. So what do ya say…? At the end of the day yer still gonna have your way with her."

Harley was hesitant, but if Daryl was right and they find another group, then this could pay out, "Ok fine, but you better be right about this."

Daryl chuckled, "You let me worry about this girl."

"Alright," began Joe. "There's that." He turned to Daryl, "You have thirty minutes with her."

Without hesitation, Daryl turned to the girl and pulled her up.

"No! Get off me you jackass!" ordered Beth but to no avail.

"Shut d'Hell up," responded the hunter as he dragged her outside.

Joe and the rest of the group stayed behind to set up camp in the building.

* * *

Outside, Daryl dragged her to the side of the building where the claimers couldn't see them.

"Leave me alone," pleaded Beth as she tried to release his hold on her. "I'm not going to tell you anything!"

Annoyed, Daryl roughly pushed the girl in front of him causing her to fall to the ground. "Can't you be quiet for one second!" he yelled. He looked around and remembered that the boy from earlier ran in a specific direction. He was willing to bet that was the direction they needed to go. He turned to Beth who was bundled up in fear, "Let's go," he said grabbing her attention.

"No," responded Beth. "I'm not moving."

Not in the mood, Daryl picked her up again. "Girl quit yer bullshit and let's go before the other's come looking for us."

Hearing this, Beth looked at Daryl. "You mean… you're going to help me…?"

Ignoring her question, Daryl pushed her forward in the direction of where the other teen went. "Would you rather go back with them?" he asked.

Surprised, Beth remained motionless. He was actually going to help her escape… no, there had to be a catch. He hates her group, could this be his way of getting the location of her group? "Why do you want to help me?" she found herself asking.

"I have my reasons," he responded coldly. "Now let's go," he ordered.

Beth was still shocked by what was going on. She couldn't really believe this turn of events. For some reason, she actually wanted to hug him in gratitude, but she knew there had to be a catch… there just had to be. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that there wasn't really much he could do. One man versus an entire group. _'He has to want something else…'_ Perhaps he could attempt to use her to kill Rick, but that would be a suicide mission. She looked up and saw that the hunter was getting even more agitated with every moment that she stood still. Coming to a conclusion that this was her best way home, Beth nodded and turned around, "It's this way," she said as she began to run forward with the hunter behind her.


End file.
